Invisible
by Rhiev
Summary: Georgiana was used to blending into the background. A job in a 1 person department at Wayne Enterprises? Sounds perfect. But as the new Archivist observes a certain billonaire's odd comings and goings from the Archives, she's left with more questions than answers. And she can't leave a question without an answer. Bruce/OC Rated T for now, may change later.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first story in the Nolaverse, so please bear with me. I have **BatChild** to thank in part for this story. Reading **In the Shadow of the Bat**, got my wheels turning again and not only inspired the basis for this story but also broke my insane writer's block that I've had for my other ongoing story. Nothing in the Nolanverse is mine, except for Georgie and company. Enjoy!

* * *

I've always been invisible to others. When I was younger, I hated it, craving the attention of my parents, teachers, and peers. After so many years though, I'd grown to accept it and even relish it.

Being born into a family that placed more value on wealth and privilege than character and self worth had made me stick out like a sore thumb. My mother was forever chastising me for not attempting to gain a foothold in Gotham society. _"Georgiana Alexandra Swift, if you don't start looking for a beau, you will end up an old maid you know!"_ She seemed to be under the impression that marriage was the only highlight that my life could ever possibly have. I just ignored her and continued my quiet quest to earn my Master's degree in Literature and English. I think she thought once I was done pursuing my "hobby", as she called it, I would see things her way and come around. When I finally landed a job as a public librarian, I honestly thought she was going to disown me.

My father was never around and when he was, he tended to forget I was there. Not hard to do, it seemed. He, like my mother, had an overinflated ego because he was a minor noble from England. Our ancestors had been granted lands and estates hundreds of years ago but the only thing my father had to show for it was being able to be called Lord Roger Swift. My mother did relish being called Lady Victoria Swift and sometimes I wondered if she'd only married my father for the title it gave her.

My only sister Penny was just about the only family I actually talked to once my graduation had passed. Two years younger than I, she was the darling debutante daughter my parents had always wished I would be. Outgoing as a social butterfly could be, she thrived in the same atmosphere that had stifled me for so many years. Looking at us, you wouldn't think we were related. From my father, I had inherited a light complexion and a short, slight build, though a tad more curves. My mother had given me her thick, wavy brunette hair and deep brown eyes. Penelope had golden blond hair and the brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen. Tall and thin, she could easily grace the pages of a magazine or Page 6. My parents doted on her in a way they had never done for me. We got along despite it all.

When I took the job at Wayne Enterprises, my sister was shocked. Penny had always thought I would never relinquish my solitude and that my aversion to large public gatherings had to do with my introversion rather than my singular dislike for most of the people she and my parents gathered around.

"Georgie! Are you serious? Wayne Enterprises? You know that means you'll be surrounded by a lot of people right? I mean, you really think you're up for it?" Penny had said with disbelief and skepticism.

I smiled at her. "I'll be working down in Archives, away from the crush of people and almost completely by myself. I think I'll be just fine."

In truth, my inability to draw attention to myself had made me more at peace with my solitude. I could go to a coffee shop to sit and read and no one would interrupt me, unlike others that I would see there.

The position of Archives Director sounded right up my alley, when Josh had pitched it my way. He was Head of Security for Wayne Enterprises and had been my only friend since childhood. He had been trying to get me a better paying job with a better location from the minute that I had started working at the Gotham City Public Library. It wasn't in the best neighborhood and he always worried about me going home at night.

I thought back to my interview with Lucius Fox. I hadn't expected the CEO of the company to be interviewing me but when he said he was temporarily filling the Archives Director position, it made more sense.

"_Ms. Swift, I presume you are wondering why I am interviewing you and not the outgoing Archives Director. The current Director quit after being informed that Wayne Enterprises is moving to become completely electronic with our records and part of that involves inputting all the files in Archives into the database." _

_My eyebrows rose slightly. "That sounds like quite the undertaking."_

"_Indeed it is, which is why we are looking for someone to start right away and who doesn't mind doing data entry along with the rest of yo- their duties." He stopped himself but I allowed myself a small smile as I realized he had already made up his mind about me._

"_Mr. Fox, I am quite adept at a computer and have no problem with data entry. My references can vouch for that."_

"_You would be the only person in your department, you understand? This will take you several weeks, if not months, to finish…" His voice trailed off as a real smile broke across my face._

"_Mr. Fox, I have been alone for most of my life and I have come to think of solitude as my constant companion. I think that I will do exactly the job you need me to. Now, when do I start?" _

"_As soon as possible." Lucius looked relieved and it wasn't until I started work that I truly understood why._

* * *

I slapped a hand to my buzzing alarm clock, next to the bed, silencing it for the moment. Getting up and going about my morning routine, I felt a tension in my steps, my movements. It took a moment for me to realize it for what it was – excitement. I was looking forward to this new job.

I was just putting my thick, brunette locks up into a practical bun behind my head, when I heard the buzzer for the front door of my apartment building. "Hey G, you ready to go yet?" Josh's baritone floated to my ears and I smiled.

Running over, I pressed my finger to the reply button. "Come on up, Josh!" I unlocked my door on the way back to my bedroom and continued pinning my hair up. I had just placed the last pin when my door opened. My best friend stood just inside the threshold, looking dapper in his security uniform.

"You aren't done yet? I could hear the exasperation in his voice.

I smiled. "Just finished, complainer. Let's go!" I grabbed my purse and we were off to Wayne Enterprises.

* * *

After Josh had given me a perfunctory tour, he dropped me off in Archives. For such a small department, you wouldn't think it would have the largest office space but you'd be wrong. The room was huge, stretching so far that I couldn't even see the back of the room. Orderly rows of filing cabinets filled the majority of the space except for the wall nearest the entrance that had workbenches running the length of it.

Paperwork was strewn all over the workbenches. It looked like they had been without an archivist for a long while. Sighing, I set my bag down next to the closest workbench and fired up the computer sitting on top.

Humming to myself, I was just thinking a radio would be nice when I heard a voice behind me. "So you're the new archivist."

I froze where I stood, my heartbeat kicking up a few notches. I knew that voice. For all my loathing of grand galas and pristine parties, I had still attended a few and even after all this time, I remembered his voice.

I swallowed hard and turned around.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne." A nervous smile pasted itself on my face as I stared at the man who had only to lift his pinky finger in public and the papers and tabloids would come running.

"Good luck with inputting all of this into the database. Someone has to do it." He gestured to the seemingly endless rows of filing cabinets. "I just had to stop by and grab something for a board meeting."

I nodded quickly, not moving from where I stood. My mouth felt like the Sahara and I darted my tongue out to moisten my lips. "Sounds good."

Bruce Wayne looked at me oddly as he made his way towards the door. "I've got to be going. Like I said, good luck."

And then he was gone.

My knees began shaking as I turned around. My first thought was he hadn't recognized me; my next thought was thank god. My invisibility had done its job. Squaring my shoulders and straightening my spine, I pulled out the email Lucius had sent the previous day with my username and temporary password and logged in to the computer.

Time to get to work.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed! I appreciate it so much! Here's the latest fruit of my labors. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

By the end of my first week at Wayne Enterprises, I had come to three conclusions.

First, I would be several months at the task of inputting all of the old files into WE's main database unless I had more help. Second, I absolutely loved my new job. Within the first two days, I had already claimed the place as my own. Plants to liven the environment, a radio to sing along to, and an extensive network of surveillance cameras and equipment Josh had help me set up were my new additions to the department. Third, Bruce Wayne made far more trips than necessary for an owner of such a large corporation to Archives to retrieve a memo, a diagram, etc. for "board meetings".

Board meetings, my ass.

After the first three occasions that he had visited and rebuffed my attempts to help him find what he needed because he knew "his way around his company", I simply began observing where he went and which cabinet he retrieved information out of.

Research and Development was a shuttered department according to all the official documents I'd come across, but apparently Mr. Wayne didn't get the heads up.

After he left on his fourth visit, I went back to check the files and realized that a few of the folders were considerably thinner than they had been earlier that morning. I'd filed several documents away from the piles I was slowly wading through on my desks into that particular filing cabinet. Glancing at the folders in question, I realized they were all for prototype equipment from different companies.

_Hmm, maybe the playboy wants a few more interesting toys to play with. I don't care what he wants them for as long as he returns them._

But by the time Friday rolled around, I had yet to see the return of any of the paperwork Mr. Wayne, I refused to call him Bruce- even in my head, had taken.

Before meeting Josh in the lobby for our drive home, I took the elevator to the top floor to pay a visit to my boss and inquire about the missing paperwork.

Stepping off the elevator, I let his secretary, Margaret know I just needed a quick word with Mr. Fox before he left for the weekend. Settling into a chair outside his office, I pulled a book out of my bag to read as I waited.

Several minutes passed, but I was unaware, absorbed fully by my novel. When a waving hand suddenly appeared between the pages and my face, I started, somewhat violently.

Raising my gaze, I crimsoned from the base of my neck all the way to the roots of my hair as I saw both Mr. Fox and Mr. Wayne standing in front of me looking at me with an air of expectation. Shutting the book and shoving into my bag, I quickly rose.

"Mr. Fox, I just needed a word with you before you leave for the weekend, if you don't mind?" I gestured to his office, not wanting to have to air my concerns with the paperwork in front of the person who had taken them.

"Certainly, Ms. Swift. Bruce, I'll get back to you on those adjustments as soon as I have time to tweak your designs." He smiled at me before turning to Mr. Wayne.

"Let me know when they're ready for me to take a look at. Have a good weekend Lucius, Ms. Swift." Bruce nodded at both of us and then he was gone.

"After you, my dear." Mr. Fox extended a hand before his office and I entered the massive room.

Finding myself unaccountably nervous, I steeled my nerves and took a deep breath.

"What did you need to see me about?" Lucius had moved to lean against the front of his desk, arms crossed casually.

"Well Mr. Fox, I just wanted to ask about the paperwork that Mr. Wayne has been taking from Archives. I have been getting a good head start on organizing all of the previously unfiled paperwork but Mr. Wayne has been down there at least 4 times that I know of and taken paperwork each time that he has yet to return. I know he's the owner of the company and I probably shouldn't question why but I can't just let it go. I'm not wanting to make waves or anything but I would really like those files back because I haven't scanned them into the system yet and I know that it's of utmost importance that everything get scanned in and-" Mr. Fox stopped my rapid fire stream of words with a hand held up before him.

"Slow down Ms. Swift. You say Bruce has been taking information from Archives?" His voice was calm and even but I thought I detected a note of surprised.

"Yes, he's been taking several things for board meetings, at that Lucius' eyebrows rose in surprise, and I've been looking at the files since he last was there. All of the files have to do with prototype equipment from different firms."

Understanding flitted across Lucius' face. "Ah, well Ms. Swift, as you will undoubtedly learn, billionaires can be quite eccentric in their choice of hobbies. Let's just say Mr. Wayne's runs a little more to the technically minded side of things."

"So the paperwork…?"

"Will be returned in due course, when Mr. Wayne is finished with them, but I assure you they will be returned." The smile directed at me seemed almost fatherly in its kind indulgence of my need for organization and order.

I sighed. Not exactly the explanation I had been looking for but not quite a non-answer. "Alright Mr. Fox, have a good weekend."

As I exited his office, I heard him getting on the phone. "Alfred, tell him we may have a problem."

Brushing off my skepticism, I rode the elevator down to meet Josh. We had taken to carpooling to and from work because it made sense when Josh only lived 2 blocks down from my apartment.

Exiting the elevator, I saw his golden curls over the crush of people exiting for the day. Making my way through the crowd, I popped up at his elbow and gave him a poke in the side.

Biting back a curse, he turned his periwinkle blue eyes on me in a glare.

I grinned. "What?"

"Where have you been? I've been waiting here for the past 15 minutes!" His gruff voice sounded annoyed but I could tell he didn't really mean it.

"I had to go talk to Mr. Fox before I left. I'm here now though, so we can go." I smiled once more at him and we were on our way home.

Neither of us saw Bruce Wayne watching us as we left.

* * *

The next few weeks passed rather uneventfully. I fell into a new routine at work. I was finally making a dent in the stacks of paperwork that covered most of the remaining workbenches. I spent the majority of the morning filing those documents and slowly learning my way around the vast chasm that was the Archives room. Then, in the afternoons, I would continue scanning and categorizing the documents already filed into the database. It was slow going but I enjoyed it.

I was dancing through the aisles one morning, on my way to file a handful of papers into Accounting's cabinets when my song was interrupted by an urgent news bulletin.

"_**Attention, there has been a prisoner riot at Arkham Asylum. Several prisoners have escaped. Please be on your guard at all times. Police are working quickly to resolve this matter and round all the prisoners up. We will keep you updated as this situation progresses."**_

I checked myself for a minute and then continued on my way to file the documents properly. As I turned to head back toward my desk, I saw Bruce Wayne enter silently and deposit a large, thick folder on my desk. He paused and glanced around but appeared to look right over me. He was almost completely out the door before I spoke up as I hurried to the front.

"Leaving me presents now, Mr. Wayne?" I tried for a smile but it came out nervous and hesitant.

He turned, giving me a half smile- half smirk. "No, just returning all the paperwork that I've accumulated over the past month or so. Sorry it's taken me so long to get it back down to you."

"Ah, well, at least it's been returned. That's the only thing that matters to me."

I moved to the desk and began sorting through the paperwork, intending to separate them into each of the different departments and then file them. Much to my surprise, all the documents were from Research and Development. I had assumed most of them would be based on my initial observations but not **all** of them.

"Don't you ever get lonely down here by yourself?"

The question caught me off guard and I looked up startled. I had assumed that he had left but in fact, he had actually moved in closer and was now standing a foot to my right. A tad too close for comfort actually…

"Uh, no. Not really. I enjoy the solitude. I'm used to being alone." I looked down at the papers in my hands again, fingers fidgeting with the edges of the pile, slowly making it neater.

"You don't ever want someone to talk to?" The slight concern that filtered in through the smoothness of his voice made me smile, ever so slightly.

Meeting his bright dark blue eyes, I tapped my right ear, where a tiny headset resided.

"When I get especially in want of conversation, I just tune to channel 3 on the radio frequencies and listen to the lovely day your security officers are having. Quite entertaining actually."

"Oh really? And what does my Security Director think of that?" His voice had become rougher with amusement and I let my mouth get the better of me.

"He'd probably think it unacceptable but once he realized it's me we're talking about, he'd realize that resistance is futile."

Bruce's eyes darkened at that and his attention on me was suddenly razor sharp. "And why is that?"

I swallowed, suddenly back to being uncontrollably nervous at the attention being focused on me. "Because, I'm very persistent. I don't give up once I've decided to do something."

His phone started to ring and as he checked it, he began moving towards the door. "I see. Well, Ms. Swift I've got to go. I'm late again. Punctuality isn't my strongest suit. Have a good rest of your day." And with that, he was gone.

The rest of the day felt off kilter, as if I had a mild case of vertigo. When I went to meet Josh in the lobby for our drive home, it took me a good five minutes to realize he wasn't there. Not quite concerned but curious as to his whereabouts, I took out my cell phone and call him.

It rang and rang until his voicemail picked up. _"Hi, you've reached Josh. I either can't come to the phone right now or I just didn't want to talk you. Either way, leave me a message and I might get back to you later. If you're lucky."_

I rolled my eyes and hung up. Walking over, I grabbed one of the in house phones and dialed 100 for security.

"_Security, how may I direct your call?" _The girl on the other end of the line sounded harried.

"Yes, I'd like to speak with Josh."

"_Ma'am, he's currently dealing with the additional security precautions due to the Arkham break out, can I take a message?"_

I sighed. Who knew how long it would take him to finish? "Yes, please. Just tell him that G is taking the train home and not to worry. Thanks."

"_I will tell him, ma'am. "_

I hung up and rode the elevator to the 3rd floor which housed the metro station along with several cafés and shops. It was rather convenient to have a metro stop in your actual work building but because the station nearest my apartment was such a walk away from it, I preferred to drive with Josh.

The ride home was uneventful but all the conversations revolved around the breakout at Arkham and speculation as to who was on the loose.

"_Well I heard from Janet, who's brother's girlfriend's sister works there that the Joker got out!"_

"_No, I heard that it was the minimum security wing that was breached. They're all harmless in that wing!"_

"_Man, if one of them freaks tries anything when I'm around, I'll put all this muscle I've been building to good use."_

I tuned them out after I heard the last comment and saw the man in question flexing his biceps for all the ladies within his vicinity.

Finally, my stop arrived and I disembarked with a handful of other passengers. Continuing the 5 block walk to my apartment building, I drew my coat closer around me as the wind began to pick up.

I was one block away when I became of aware of someone following me, speeding up to overtake me. I picked my pace up and glanced over my shoulder.

The man who was rapidly gaining on me wasn't look at me, just staring at the pavement as he walked. Dressed in a large beige overcoat that fell well past his knees, he finally drew alongside me. I kept my gaze ahead of me hoping that he was like me and just in a hurry to get home.

I glanced over at him again, only to see his hand come whipping out of his coat and the butt of a gun descend on my head. The last thing I remember thinking was how mad Josh was going to be at me when he found out.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and thanks especially to **garnet86** and **thepixieblonde** for reviewing both chapters. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

The first thing I became aware of was the fact that I was surrounded by several people all talking somewhat simultaneously. I opened my eyes and realized I was in the Emergency Room of Gotham County Hospital. I tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. Having the blood pound down from my head did nothing to help my already throbbing head.

Closing my eyes, I put a hand to my hand to ease the pain and vaguely noted I must have fallen hard on my right side as I felt my arm protest as I moved it too much.

The doctor who bustled into the room had an air of authority and efficiency about her. I couldn't seem to find my tongue as she started in.

"Good! You're awake! My name is Dr. Geneva Raskos and I'm the one in charge of your care since you arrived. Georgiana is it? Would you mind telling me what you remember?"

I grimaced. "Well it's not much. I remember walking home and seeing a man in an overcoat overtake me right before my apartment building and him hitting me with a gun. That's it, until I woke up here."

"Hmm, right. Not much there. Any place other than your head that hurts? We did an exterior examination when you were brought in and all that we have found so far is the bump on your head and of course what's written on it." The doctor looked thoughtful as she jotted down a note on the chart in her hands.

"What's written on it? What are you talking about? What's written on my head?" I was confused. Surely she had misspoken. Why would anyone write on my face? Aside from the drunken parties that I'd chauffeured Penny to time or two, I'd never seen anyone write on another's face.

"There's a word, Sleeping, written on your forehead." Dr. Raskos had moved towards the door. "The police will be in to speak with you now that you're awake."

I watched as she left and was replaced by a detective in plainclothes.

He reiterated the same question the doctor had asked and I repeated what I'd told her. Then he pulled a several pictures out from his coat pocket. They were polaroids that looked recently taken.

"Do you know any of these people? Any of them look familiar in any way?"

I thumbed through the pictures slowly. Some had been taken when the subject was aware, eyes closed but others had the person in them staring straight at the camera as if they'd seen a ghost. Each of the people had a word written on their forehead. Like mine.

I paused at the last picture. "This guy was on the train with me when I went home. He got off two stops before I did. I don't recognize anyone else."

I was about to hand the pictures back to him when I thumbed through them again, this time paying attention to the words written on their foreheads_. Feathers, day, night, by, you, no, have, aid, flight, who, out, lose, care, about._ The words didn't seem to make any sense. _Don't forget, sleeping…_ my mind reminded me.

I handed the photos back to the detective with a sigh and apology that I couldn't be more helpful. He smiled and thanked me as he left- giving me a card with a number to call in case I remembered anything else.

I sat there for several minutes thinking about what had happened and asking myself the question that all the others were probably asking themselves. _Why me?_

Realizing I wouldn't be able to answer that question on my own in a hospital room, I hopped down from the gurney and stretched to make sure I wasn't going to be crawling out of the ER. Satisfied that I was all in one piece despite the soreness, I sought out my nurse to be discharged.

* * *

Safely ensconced at home, the first thing I did was shower and take rubbing alcohol to the permanent marker on my forehead. I had some fantastic bruises on my right side, all along my right arm and shoulder where I'd fallen, but other than that I was perfectly fine. After scrubbing myself clean, I lay down in my bed, willing sleep to come. Half an hour later, I gave up on sleep and went up the spiral stairs to my rooftop deck. Being the daughter of a semi-rich lordling had its perks. Being able to have the top floor and roof all to myself was one of them.

I settled into one of the Adirondack beach chairs I had strewn about the rooftop. I was facing towards downtown and watched the clouds drift in and around the tall buildings. It was a warm fall evening and I only had a light tank top with flannel pajama bottoms.

I reached a hand and turned the radio next to me on. _"…not sure how many people were attacked in the streets today. Police aren't releasing any information about the nature of the attacks or if it is related to the breakout at Arkham. We will keep you informed…"_

I changed the station to an oldies station and as Sinatra's smooth voice sang about flying to the moon, I felt my eyes close. My body began to relax, infinitesimally at first and then quicker as I realized I felt safer on the roof than in my own bed. I snorted at the irony of it all and inhaled a deep breath. I froze. I could smell sweat, oil and something definitely male.

I opened my eyes and had to bite back a laugh. Batman stood before me, glowering down at me as if I had purposefully set out to do something to irritate him.

Forcing myself to relax again, I cocked an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

"You were assaulted today a block away. I need to know what happened." His guttural growl sent a tiny shiver down my spine and had heat pooling between my legs as I had a quick flash of thought of that voice saying dirty, naughty things in the heat of passion.

I reclined farther into the chair and smiled indulgently at him. "Well it was my understanding that you have an in with the GPD. I've already given a statement to them. You can get it from them." A tiny part of me was quite insistently telling me I shouldn't be so comfortable with this masked vigilante but I instinctively knew he wouldn't hurt me. No matter what the papers had said after that DA had died.

"I can't use that source anymore. Now… What. Happened." He took a step closer and he towered over me, an imposing figure in black that would make most grown men shake in fear.

I don't know why I couldn't take his intimidation seriously but all I felt like doing was giggling and I knew that giggling would not be well received.

"Guy hit me. Wrote 'sleeping' on my forehead. That's all I know. You want anything else? Ask the people who found me." I smiled up at the forbidding masked face, knowing I was probably irritating the hell out of him and feeling a perverse joy at that knowledge.

The growl that emanated from the man above me had my toes curling in a way he definitely hadn't intended.

"Woman. Tell me what happened. NOW." At that, my eyebrows hit my hairline. "Woman is it? You can come down off your high horse and at least say please. I don't have to help you at all. In fact, I could call the police now if I wanted. You're the Most Wanted person in Gotham and yet you're still trying to help its citizens. Would you like to try again?"

I had crossed my arms in front of me and looked expectantly up at the tense figure that still stood looming over me as if to intimidate by sheer presence alone. I daresay he'd had success with that before.

Taking a step back, he gave a frustrated growl-sigh. "Please."

"Please what?" I saw his mouth tighten and gave a small smile.

"Please tell me what happened today." He ground out the words as if the simple act of conversation was foreign to him. Looking back on our conversation, it probably was.

"I was walking home from the metro station. A man came up behind me in a beige overcoat and pistol-whipped me in the head. He was medium height, brown hair, though I couldn't see his eyes. No distinguishing features I'm afraid. I assume he was the same one to write the word 'sleeping' on my forehead. I don't remember anything after that besides waking up in the hospital. Anything else?" I waited for his response.

"What did the detective ask you?"

"About the same as you, though he did have me look through some polaroids of others that had words written on their faces as well. I only knew one from the train home today." I could tell he was going to leave soon; he'd starting pacing a bit- moving closer to the edge of the roof each pass.

"Hmm, do you remember what any of the other words were?" He stopped pacing, focusing his attention on me once again and I felt a small jolt as I realized it felt familiar.

"Feathers, day, night, by, you, no, have, aid, flight, who, out, lose, care, about and of course sleeping." I rattled off the words without a thought. I could feel his surprise so I answered the question that he hadn't voiced yet.

"I have a very good memory. My sister used to think I had a photographic memory because I could remember the slightest detail of books. It's not that good but it's better than most. I've been running the words over in my head. Trying to figure out what it said. It's obviously a message for someone…" I trailed off as I looked at him.

"You, it's a message for you. From who? Who's it from?" I was suddenly up out of my chair and in front of him, staring up into the face that was now glowering at me again.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be here, wasting my time with you." His breath was hot on my face and I realized just how close I actually was to him. He hadn't moved an inch when I'd come flying up out of my chair at him.

I felt my breath catch in my throat and my heart began pounding. Batman was one tall, strong drink of water and I suddenly found myself as thirsty as if I'd been 2 weeks in the Sahara without water.

"Waste of time? You've gotten more information out of me that any of the others I'd wager. Else, you'd have been gone within the first two minutes. So either I intrigue you, or I gave you the information you wanted." I murmured to him as my hand came up to rest feather light on his armored shoulder.

"I think a girl should get compensated for her help, don't you?" I threw a saucy grin at him and as I moved even closer, I locked eyes with him the whole way, waiting for him to tell me to stop or push me away.

Surprisingly, he didn't do either and when my lips met his, his eyes widened before slowly starting to close. I closed mine in reflex and reveled in the feel of his lips on mine. I gave a tiny groan of discontent when he gently pulled back and I realized he'd wrapped a hand in my unbound hair.

Untangling myself from his embrace, I laughed softly at myself. Shaking my hair out, I moved back to my chair. Turning to him once again, I was about to say something slightly snarky about always having useful information for him but he was gone.

I let a laugh escape my lips as I saw him gliding 3 buildings across. "Good luck!" I yelled after him but I wasn't sure if he heard me.

Still chuckling to myself, I turned the radio off and walked back down to my bed. Before I drifted off, my only thought was that no one would believe me, not even Josh.

* * *

The next three days passed in a whirl. When Friday finally rolled around, I was surprised but happy I was getting two days off in a row.

When Josh appeared in Archives, signaling I'd again overlooked the time to go home, I felt my cheeks turning red.

"Sorry, J. I don't know where my head has been these past few days." Josh had been the best friend I could have after learning what had happened the previous Monday, not letting me leave alone. I hadn't worked the courage up to tell him about my encounter with the Batman because I knew he wouldn't believe me, no matter how much he wanted to.

"It's alright, G. You ready to go home?"

"Yup, just let me file this last document." I headed down to file a memo into R&D's cabinet when I caught a whiff of something familiar and arousing. I whipped around to see Bruce Wayne walking down the back aisle towards the front of the room. My heart was pounding as I looked around for the source of the whiff but the smell was gone. I filed the document and headed back to Josh and Mr. Wayne who were chatting by the door.

"Ah, Georgie, there you are. Mr. Wayne was just saying how he appreciative he was with all that you have done down here." Josh's tone was that of an older brother prompting a recalcitrant sister to thank someone even if he didn't think the person needed thanking himself. I rolled my eyes to heaven and grinned.

"Thank you Mr. Wayne. I really do love it down here. "My eyes twinkled at Josh as if to say '_Is that sufficient?_'. When I turned my gaze to Bruce, my heart resumed its gallop and suddenly my palms were sweaty as I realized his attention was once again razor sharp on my face.

"Anyways, we have to be going, don't we, Josh! Don't want to get caught in traffic you know!" I hustled both men towards the door.

"Goodbye Mr. Wayne, have a great weekend!" I waved over my shoulder as I grabbed my things and shoved Josh ahead of me out the hall to the elevator.

As the elevator doors opened, I hurriedly got in and pressed the main level. Looking out to the door to Archives, I saw Bruce Wayne watching me as the elevator doors shut on my face.

The entire ride home I was teased mercilessly but I paid it little heed. My mind, an object I'd only so recently praised, was telling me something that I couldn't quite believe. I'd never known it to be wrong yet but I simply could not believe that it was true.

No, no, no, no… Bruce Wayne couldn't be Batman. Could he?


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews and **highlander348**- I started writing and this happened a bit sooner than I'd originally thought but it seems to fit. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

I spent the weekend arguing with myself, waiting to see which side of me would win out- the logical side with its staunch insistence that Bruce couldn't be Batman or the irrational side that was convinced that the billionaire playboy was indeed the caped crusader who lingered on the roofs at night.

Sunday evening arrived and I was still no closer to a conclusion than I had been when Josh dropped me off on Friday night. I had been doggedly avoiding my rooftop terrace all weekend but with a glass of wine as a buffer, I made my way to my rooftop and settled myself into a chair.

I sat and watched as the sun set over Gotham thinking that city sunsets were often overlooked in their own kind of beauty.

I felt him watching me before he appeared, gliding out of the shadows as if he'd been there all along.

Taking a large gulp of wine, I steadied myself as he approached and prepared myself for what he might say.

"I need a favor."

"Oh do you?" Incredulity dripped from my words. "What on earth could I possibly do for you?"

"There were more people involved than the ones you saw last week. I need to know what their words were." His voice was rough but I detected a note of urgency underlying his words.

"And just how do you expect me to find those out?" I had crossed my arms and was watching him closely. He seemed more on edge than before.

"Go back to the police station. Ask to see the photos again. Say you thought you remembered something else." Batman had been standing near the chimney in the center of the roof but now he took a step forward, hand clenching as if in frustration.

"And what exactly is in this for me?" I sighed, somehow knowing that I would do as he asked regardless of the reason.

"Knowing that you'll be saving a life." I froze and looked up into his eyes. Because I was looking for it, I could see the brilliant blue darken into midnight.

"What's happened? Who's in trouble?" My question was softly asked but my mind was already turning over the possibilities.

"The family of someone who has aided me in the past. I need that information by noon tomorrow." I looked down at my now empty wine glass.

"How will I get in touch with you tomorrow? I thought you only came out at night." I couldn't keep the tartness from my voice at the last comment and I glanced up to see Batman's stern mouth quirk up slightly in the corner.

"I'll find you." The rumble that accompanied this sent a shiver rolling over my body and I found my mind again wandering to places it probably shouldn't.

Noticing the time on my watch, I rose and moved toward the stairs. "I'll go first thing in the morning. I hope my boss will forgive me if I end up late because of this."

"I'm sure he'll understand." I watched as he turned and fired a grappling hook to the taller building across the way.

"Somehow I think you're right." I murmured to myself as I watched Batman soar away into the night, convinced completely that I had been right. Batman was really Bruce Wayne.

* * *

The next morning, I called Josh and told him that I had to make a stop at the MCU to visit with the detective who had interviewed me in the hospital. He wasn't exactly thrilled at hearing that but he knew me well enough to know that arguing was a moot point.

I was going.

After arriving and stating my purpose to the young officer behind the desk, I was shown into a tiny conference room and I sat down to wait. The person who eventually came and joined me was a different detective but seemed friendly enough. He fanned the photos out in front of me and I began looking at them again.

There were several more photos. Twenty eight people had been assaulted besides me. Twenty eight. I separated the photos that I'd already looked at and concentrated on the ones that were completely new to me.

I tried to not focus on the actual people, instead centering on the words. _Ones, flying, have, your, you, before, am, you, to, find, might, I, by, you, the._

I was so focused that I didn't hear the question I was being asked until I realized there had been a pause for my response.

"Huh? I'm sorry I didn't hear the question." I tried to look abashed but I was really very anxious to get out of there.

"Do you see anyone that you recognize? Anything familiar?" The detective was growing impatient and I shook my head.

"No, I'm sorry, I must have been mistaken. I apologize for wasting your time." Gathering my things, I left as fast as was polite and immediately hopped on a train to work.

The minute I arrived in Archives, I knew I wasn't alone. Though the lights were out and everything was dark, I could feel someone else in my space. Knowing who it was gave me a bit of relief but still, after being knocked unconscious, I preferred to have the lights on.

I set my things down on my desk and turned the lamp beside my computer on, leaving the main ones off.

"Well, what did you find out?"

Hearing his deep, gravelly voice behind me, I turned to see him hovering just beyond the light between two of the filing cabinet aisles.

"I have all the words, I've been trying to string them together since I read them all and given whom it's obviously directed to… you… I think I may have solved half of it." I pulled a piece of scribbled on paper out of my pocket and handed it to him.

"Sleeping by day, flying by night, you have no feathers to aid your flight." Batman read aloud what I had figured out on the train ride there.

"Well it's obvious the answer is a bat. If it is meant for you, which I'm sure it is, the second half of the riddle is what is going to be important. I haven't been able to figure that part out yet though." I leaned against the edge of my desk, fidgeting with my fingers.

"Out, might, you, care, lose, you, about, who, find, the, before, ones, am, you, I. Any idea at all what that's supposed to say?" I turned questioning eyes to the man who stood awash in shadows.

"No, but I will." The fierce determination in his voice took me back to another time when I'd heard such determination from a young Bruce Wayne who had decided that Rachel Dawes was going to break up with her current louse of a football jock boyfriend. Of course, that she had decided all on her own to do it, had no effect on Bruce. He had taken all the credit once he learned that Rachel was again single.

"Bru-"I stopped myself as he was turning to walk away, knowing that no good would come of what I'd been about to say. I turned around and swallowed hard, hoping like hell he hadn't heard me.

Apparently, I didn't pray to the right God because I could feel his gaze penetrating the back of my skull with such intensity as to rival that of the sun on the equator.

"What. Did. You. Say." I'd never heard his voice go lower or more menacing before.

I froze, not moving an inch, internally berating myself for letting my tongue slip. I had planned to not let him know that I knew, or at the very least that I suspected. There was no going back.

I could feel my skin flushing hot and cold as adrenaline surged through my body when I felt him move to stand directly behind me. I shut my eyes and concentrated on breathing evenly, normally.

A hand on my shoulder turned me around to stand toe to toe with Batman. I kept my eyes shut, head down, struggling to maintain my semblance of calm.

A gloved hand had my chin coming up but I refused to open my eyes, clinging to the belief that if I just kept my eyes closed, everything would be as it had been.

Feeling him move even closer, my breathing became a bit ragged as a cold sweat broke out over my brow.

"Don't ever, ever-say that again." The words growled softly directly into my left ear had my eyes flying open of their own accord.

My heart was galloping around my chest as if it was running the Preakness and I stared at him as he pulled back and swiftly strode away.

I went about the rest of my day in a fog. Not quite hearing things, not quite seeing things. Josh knew something was up when he came to fetch me at 5 to go home and I didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"G, what's wrong? Something happen at the police station this morning?" He sounded concerned, but as preoccupied as I was - going over and over the scene that had happened later that morning, I just shook my head.

"Georgie, I know something's up. Something has been up for the past week. I've let it slide cause I thought you just needed space but really, this is enough. Tell me." I felt his hands on my shoulders as he looked me in the eyes.

"Josh, I can't. I just… can't. Please believe me, I would if I could." I turned pleading eyes to him, begging him not to push any more. He had no idea how desperately I wanted to confide in someone what I knew, what had happened but I knew that I couldn't.

Josh was a good man but he also believed unequivocally that Batman was responsible for the murder of Harvey Dent. I knew that if I told him what I knew, he would insist on going to the police and Bruce would be arrested.

I couldn't let that happen.

"Alright G, but if you can tell me, you promise you will, right?" I ached at the concern in his voice but knew that nothing could change my mind.

"Yeah, J. If something changes, you'll be the first to know." I gave a half smile and let him take me home.

* * *

The next day, Bruce Wayne didn't show up for his board meetings. I heard it going around the lobby as I was grabbing lunch from the sandwich cart.

This fact in and of itself was not unusual as Bruce was notorious for staying out late and partying with supermodels until the wee hours of the morning but it suddenly took on a whole new meaning as I now knew about his _**real**_ nocturnal activities.

I returned to the Archives with my sandwich and worried for most of the afternoon. In between filing large batches of documents on WE's servers, I searched online for any recent news activity regarding Batman or criminal activity.

Finding nothing, I departed from my routine and began filing actual documents again, needing to do something with all my fretful energy.

As I walked, I asked myself why I was so worried about Bruce. He was a big boy and had been taking care of himself for a long time before I showed up. I didn't even know if he was really not here because of Batman's activities or if he really had been out until 4AM with 7 models. I mean, really, he was probably fine, sleeping in his penthouse suite or something else that billionaires do when they play hooky.

Who was I kidding? I was worried that whatever he had tried to stop had in fact stopped him.

Realizing I was on my fourth trip down the wrong aisle to file paperwork for the Biochemistry department, I gave up and decided to go home early. No one would notice I was gone early besides Josh and I wasn't doing a lick of good doing the same thing over and over.

After letting Josh know I was going home and promising to call the minute I got into my apartment, I left.

Walking up to my apartment, it looked like rain. The sky had turned an ugly shade of grey and clouds were starting to build. I sent Josh a text as I let myself into my apartment and threw my things on the couch.

Hearing a crash of thunder, I remembered that my radio was still on the roof. Racing up my spiral stairs, I opened the door to the roof and gasped.

Batman—Bruce was lying face down between two of my beach chairs. His cape had an ugly green question mark spray painted on the back. Heaven only knows how long he'd been there and I glanced around, the only building taller than mine was across the street and it was vacant, having been just bought to be turned into semi-expensive condos.

Rushing over to him, I shook his shoulder to see if he would wake up. No response. I tried desperately to get a pulse from his neck but his cowl was too thick. Not wanting to risk his ire if I unmasked him, I yanked his glove off of his left hand and gave a sigh of relief as I found his pulse. Strong and steady, thank God. He couldn't be seriously injured then.

Now the only dilemma was getting him off of my roof and into my apartment. I reached under his arms and tried to hoist him up. I could only bring him about a foot off the ground but no farther. I steadied my grip and pulled. He slid toward me and I used that little momentum to get him to my stairs.

Realizing the tricky part was upon me, I turned around and put my shoulder in between one of his arms and his body. Using his arm as leverage I was able to put most of his weight on my back and I began the painstaking process of getting him down the stairs as carefully as I could.

It seemed like it took forever but I finally got him onto my couch.

I dithered for a moment about removing his cowl to see if he had further injuries but I was saved from making a decision as he groaned.

"Are you alright? Did you hit your head?" I knelt next to him and felt a small shock as he opened his eyes and smiled slightly at me.

"I'm fine Georgiana." His low voiced growl was still there but barely. He levered himself upright and put a hand to his head. "I could do with some ice though."

I hesitated. "Um… so you're okay? How long were you on my roof?"

"Yes, I'm fine except for the knock I took on the head. And what time is it?" He looked down at his hand and I realized I'd left his glove on the roof.

"Oh I'll get you some ice and hang on a second." I dashed up to the roof, retrieved the glove and came back down.

Getting the ice from the freezer, I watched as he peeled his other glove off and flex his fingers. Both hands had an extensive array of bruises, some fading some new.

"It's a quarter after 2. I left work early." I handed him the ice and his glove back.

Accepting both without a word, he seemed to be conducting a self-inventory.

Sitting across from him, I voiced the thought that had been running through my mind since our last encounter the previous morning.

"Are you angry that I know?" I waited, on pins and needles as he slowly looked up at me.

"No. But you aren't the first to figure it out. It goes without saying but you can't tell anyone." His voice sounded more like Bruce's and I watched as his hand reached back and pulled off his cowl.

I gulped. I really had been right. I mean, I had known but knowing and actually seeing the proof that you're right are two completely different things.

Running a hand through his hair, Bruce stopped as he saw my face.

I don't know who moved first but suddenly I was being kissed within an inch of my life. As the heavens opened up above to drench the city in rain, I lost myself in his kiss.

I completely forgot about the radio.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I apologize profusely for the very tardy delivery. Holidays and then a nasty illness but I'm better now and we should be back on track for Sunday updates again. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

There were many times when I was younger that I had dreamt of Bruce Wayne kissing me. They were mostly just your typical wistful high school dreams. Bruce had been the popular boy in school and even now he was still Gotham's most eligible bachelor. But I knew the unlikelihood of that ever happening and had resigned myself to wistful daydreams. This made the fact that I had just made out with him for most of the afternoon surreal.

I was in the kitchen making tea while I waited for Bruce to come out of my bathroom. He hadn't seemed in any hurry to leave after we'd come up for air. Feeling awkward and shy at the sudden intimacy that had sprung from our kissing, I'd protested that I was hungry and retreated to the kitchen to have a little time to gather myself.

Bruce had watched me for a long minute and then locked himself in my bathroom. I had no idea what he was doing and I started when I heard the shower turn on. _What was he doing?_

I knocked on the door, tea in hand. "Bruce, you coming out anytime soon? The tea and sandwiches are ready if you want some."

"I'll be out in a bit." His voice was muffled through the wood and sound of pounding water.

"Alright…" I went and sat down on my loveseat which faced towards the bathroom door.

I was just taking a sip of my tea when a cursory knock sounded on my front door and Penny stepped inside, taking her key from my lock.

"Penny, what- what are you doing here? Why didn't you call first?" I tried to hide my dismay at her appearance but I knew I was in for it when she realized that the shower was running and I wasn't the one in it.

"Oh I was just in the neighborhood… The real question is who's in your bathroom? A guy?" Speculation turned to pointed interest as my face flushed. "Ooo, is it Josh? Did you guys finally hook up like I've been saying for I don't know how long? I've been telling you for _years_ that he's in love with you; I don't know why you just now realized it."

Penny's voice held a barely disguised patronizing tone and I snapped at her. "No, for your information it isn't Josh. We are just friends like I've been telling _you_ for years. Now what did you want?"

She realized she'd made me mad and back tracked a bit but kept an eye on the bathroom door. "Well I went out with Janice, Becky, and Trisha last night and Trisha has a place to crash over this way when we want to avoid the tabs hanging around Le Grand Hotel waiting for Mr. Golden Boy himself to descend from on high."

"Wait, why were you crashing over here? Why didn't you just go back home?" I was confused. My sister thought the area I lived in was far below her in class and found it 'cute' that I lived there.

"Oh well, we had a room at Le Grand but Trisha tried some funky new drug at the club last night and she was tripping out. Couldn't let the tabs get a picture of that or she'd be plastered all over the news." Penny neatly side stepped my second question.

"Why couldn't you go back home Pen? Did you try that 'funky drug' too? Is that why?" She knew how I felt about that sort of thing but didn't let it stop her in her pursuit for a good time.

Penny refused to meet my eyes and I knew I'd stumbled onto the real reason she hadn't wanted to go home. My parents would have flipped out if they knew she was doing drugs again. My mother had sent her to rehab once over the summer when she was a senior in high school and had since stipulated that if she was living under their roof, no drugs. Period.

"God, Pen. How long this time?" I could hear the disappointment in my voice and so could she.

"Georgie, I swear it was just this one hit but we seriously tripped out! I hadn't done anything in 3 years, honest! Please believe me!" Her voice rang with sincerity as she begged me to understand.

"Why now, why last night if you'd been clean for 3 years? Why screw everything up?" I was struggling to contain my anger that she might have fooled me and lied to me.

"I don't know. It was just like I _had_ to. I don't remember deciding to- I just was and then I wasn't. God- please don't tell me that you're going to kick me out now Georgie!"

I sighed, studying her face carefully. "I'm not. I believe you."

I patted the love seat next to me. "Come sit and explain further."

She sat and told me what had happened. Her girlfriends had heard of a new club in town that was apparently the 'it' place to be. They had gone and had a good time until a tray had come around. On it had been this drug, all of them picked it up and took one hit off of it. Janice had passed out immediately, while the other three had begun hallucinating weird things.

"So we got Trisha's bodyguard to pick Jan up and we left for her apartment down here and crashed."

I had been so intent on hearing Penny's story that I hadn't noticed the water in the bathroom shut off. I heard the bathroom door open and I leapt to my feet, spilling my tea.

"Wait- my sister-" The words died on my lips as I took in the sight of Bruce, dripping wet with one of my towels slung around his waist and using another to dry his hair.

"Sorry, didn't realize we had company, babe." I blinked and stared as Bruce crossed to me and put a still moist arm around my shoulders. _Babe? _Turning me back around to face my sister, Bruce laid the towel he'd been using on his hair around his neck and extended his hand to Penny.

"Hello. I'm Bruce and you are?" Penny had had a look of shock and astonishment on her face since Bruce had stepped into the hallway. Now, she grinned and winked at me, taking Bruce's hand and shaking it.

"I'm Penny, Georgiana's younger sister. Nice to meet you. Bruce… you wouldn't be Bruce Wayne by any chance would you?" A wicked grin had spread across my sister's face, her earlier problems forgotten, and she turned to me, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Yes, I am." Bruce said casually, not realizing the world of hurt he'd just brought down on the two of us.

I pushed away from Bruce's embrace and moved toward Penny, hands up in a placating manner.

"Now Penny, this isn't what you think- "

"Oh I think this is exactly what I think! Mom's gonna die!" Penny crowed.

I blanched and felt the blood draining from my face. I hadn't thought quite that far ahead. Penny apparently had.

"Penny, you can't tell her! This isn't what you think. Bruce and I aren't dating!" My voice rose in panic.

If my mother were to find out that I was 'dating' Bruce Wayne, she would make it her mission to be back in my life in the most invasive way possible and I had just gotten off her radar. All my hard work would be undone and she would be back trying to make me fit into her mold of a perfect daughter. Not to mention the fact that we **weren't** dating.

I looked at Bruce for help and the man, damn him, just smirked and shrugged one shoulder as if to say 'what's the big deal? '.

I fought the panic down and turned my attention back to Penny who I could tell was already plotting how to best nettle our mother with the news I was dating the richest playboy in Gotham.

"No. No. NO. You will NOT tell Mom or anyone what you _think_ this is. Because it's not. We. Are. Not. Dating." I tried to make my voice as firm and rational as possible but I could hear the quaver in it.

Bruce could too. He took my shoulder and pushed me into sitting back down on the loveseat.

Penny, finally looking at me with something other than glee in her eyes, realized that I was serious.

She pouted at me. "Aw, Georgie, really? Can't I tell Mom that you're dating someone, even if I don't say who?"

"No, because the result would be the same. " I was beginning to calm down now that Penny was considering an alternative.

She sighed. "Okay fine. I won't say anything to Mom. Besides, she's mad enough at you as it is. **You** didn't tell her about your mugging last week. She's been fuming that she had to find out at one of her cocktail shindigs from some lady that she hates."

"She what? Oh great… What did you tell her?" I covered my eyes with my hands.

"You were mugged?" The note of surprise in Bruce's voice had me jerking my head up to look at him. I stared at him for a minute, confused and then realized- Bruce Wayne wouldn't normally know something like that- Batman, on the other hand, would and did.

"Oh yeah, she was whacked on the head a block away from here! Didn't Georgie tell you about or were you two too busy for that to come up?" Penny's eyebrows waggled with her insinuation.

I flushed a little, remembering the afternoon and Penny, who was still eyeing Bruce's well muscled torso, let out a shriek as she saw the time over his shoulder.

"It's almost 5:30! Crap, I've got to get downtown or Dad's gonna kill me! He's taking me to some big ball that Mom didn't want to go to but I have to be ready at 6:30! Love you sis but I gotta fly!" With a kiss on my cheek, she was out the door as fast as she'd come in.

I sighed. "And that ladies and gentlemen, is Penelope."

Bruce grinned. "She's not so bad. I'm going to go put my suit back on."

He turned to leave and I couldn't help myself.

"You really don't need to…" I grinned up at him and bit my bottom lip as he turned around with the cockiest grin I'd ever seen.

"What?! So I think you look great all freshly clean and dipping wet with only my favorite towel to cover yourself. It's not a crime to look!" _Or touch_, my mind added.

"Much I might be tempted, I actually have to be at that gala your sister is going to. " His smile was rueful but he made good on his word and reentered the bathroom.

"Oh well, a girl can dream." I murmured to myself.

Realizing that my pants were still wet from spilling my tea, I took advantage of Bruce's absence to slip into my room and pull a soft, mid-calf skirt on. When I emerged, Bruce was standing at the foot of my spiral staircase in most of the Batsuit. He hadn't put his cowl on yet but the sight was still a bit breathtaking.

"You know, I typically have a plus one for these events, if you'd like to go?" The question was mildly asked but I felt a strange tension underneath his words.

I shook my head and laughed. "Oh no. Not you too. It's one thing that Penny saw us. If I went with you, I'd be opening up a whole can of worms that, trust me, you don't want opened. Besides, we're not dating. And that would be the only reason I would stomach those people again. I learned a long time ago, I don't have the constitution to deal with them alone. Too much conniving and drama."

I smiled. "I get enough of that from my family alone."

"Enjoy the party Bruce. Please don't let Penny make you feel uncomfortable. I'll call her later and make sure she understands how far off she was-is." I placed a light hand on his forearm and leaned upward to kiss his cheek.

Bruce gave me a half smile before putting his cowl on and starting up the stairs.

"Hey." My voice stopped him halfway up.

"Yes?" The growled one word question sent shivers straight down my spine and I felt heat settle in my center. Maybe I should rethink that invite…

"Next time you decide to crash land on my roof, try and give me a heads up, mmk?"

A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth and then it was gone.

"If I have my way, there won't be any more crash landings."

And with a whirl of his cape, he was gone.

Hearing a rumble outside in the alleyway, I sprinted to my kitchen window and looked down.

The Batmobile was sitting at attention, half hidden behind dumpsters. I wondered if it had been there the entire afternoon and if so, why would he have parked so close to my building… surely there were others… I brushed that thought away as another quickly formed in my head.

I was at odds with my current impulsivity but I couldn't help but go with it. I grabbed my phone.

"Hey Pen, think Dad would just die if I asked to come along as well?"

Hearing an ecstatic affirmative from Penny, I raced to the bedroom to find something suitable to wear.

I had a Bat to catch.


	6. Chapter 6

I entered the ball room with Penny and my father just a little after 7. After Bruce had left, I had ransacked my closet for an appropriate dress as Penny had said it was black tie. I had finally found one that even Penny would deem suitable. It was a form fitting dress, hugging my curves but with a halter top that covered most of my chest. Its one daring aspect was the way the back plunged to just above my tailbone.

True to form, the minute we'd walked in my father and Penny had been greeted by several people swarming to their sides like flies to honey. I had melted into the background and snagged a glass of wine from one of the trays as it passed, shocking the waiter who had been holding the tray. He hadn't noticed me in the corner.

I felt anxious at seeing Bruce again even though it hadn't been 2 hours since I'd last seen him but my nerves were jangling.

Penny noticed the tension in my shoulders and she sidled over to me.

"Don't worry. You'll knock him dead!" Her easy smile of confidence helped a bit but she was soon floating around the room, chatting with friends, acquaintances, and my father's business partners.

Feeling the wine's warmth spread through my limbs, I began to relax. The midnight blue silk was helping me blend into the crowd and I managed to slip unnoticed past knots of people to finally take up a post in the rear of the room where I could see everyone entering.

Bruce wasn't there yet. That didn't surprise me. He was notorious for being extraordinarily late even to parties thrown in his own honor.

My side-swept waves were resting on my right shoulder and I was just running a hand through them when I heard conversation pick up from the front of the room and sweep back towards me.

"Four girls this time? Has he no shame?"

"*whistle* What I wouldn't give for his way with women."

"Good Lord, where did he find them- the Playboy Mansion?"

A lump formed in my throat as I realized they could only be talking about Bruce. I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves. I knew I looked damn good. I'd spent an inordinate amount of time creating smoky eyes that were set off by my onyx earrings and the effect that it produced with my hair and dress was enough to make even Penny approve.

I shouldn't be worried about the bimbos on his arms being prettier than me but I was. Tamping down that thought, I moved around a crowd of people that had drifted in front of me.

He looked good in his black suit and tie. The girls on his arms soon drifted off into the crowd probably looking for refreshments as Bruce began discussing this and that with Gotham's elite that filtered past him.

I was nursing my second glass of wine when I saw his gaze sweep the crowd and pass over where I was. I saw his head stiffen and begin to come back to where I was. I slipped behind a large gentleman who was very loudly discussing the properties of good brandy and followed the wall around until I was on the opposite side of the room.

Finding Bruce again in the middle of the room chatting with an executive from Wayne Enterprises, I suppressed a laugh as I watched him scan the side of the room I'd just vacated.

I saw Penny across the room and saw Bruce begin to head in her direction. Noticing his advance, Penny glanced around and, catching my eye, saw my shake of the head. She smiled and winked. She wouldn't give me away.

Moving easily between people, I moved up until I was within five feet of my sister and my boss with a large potted fern between us that shielded my face as I listened to their conversation.

"…so sorry your sister couldn't make it."

"Oh she had plans for this evening that she couldn't postpone." Penny's voice dripped honey and I could hear the laughter in her words.

Bruce could too. "Ah, yes, I'm sure they were very important. Please excuse me- I see someone I know."

He left Penny's side and walked over to the man and woman who had just entered. I recognized the man from the news as the police commissioner and I assumed the woman was his wife.

I turned back towards the crowd and resumed my people gazing while keeping Bruce in my peripheral vision. I watched as the orchestra started up and people began to clear space in the center of the room for dancing. Penny was one of the first out on the dance floor. She loved dancing, even if she wasn't bumping and grinding on her partner.

I saw another waiter walking close to me and I exchanged glasses for a full one. Taking a large gulp, I swallowed and closed my eyes, sighing.

"I knew I'd find you." The softly spoken words just behind my right ear caused me to start violently and almost spill my wine.

I whirled around, my pulse racing. "Don't _do _that!"

I glared at Bruce. Truth be told, I was rather put out that he had actually found me so early in the evening. I would much rather have preferred it for the game of cat and mouse, or rather cat and bat, to continue for most of the evening.

He grinned. "Don't like these parties huh? Interesting that you chose this one to come to." The cockiness his in demeanor almost had me putting my wine glass down and leaving but it went against my grain.

"Well every now and then a girl likes to dress up and feel pretty for an evening." I bit the words out as I knew he was irritating me for the sheer hell of it.

"Pretty?" Bruce's voiced dropped an octave and became softer as he reached out and ran a hand down my hair. "Georgiana, you're beautiful tonight."

My mouth went dry, my knees went weak and I thought to myself, 'Good Lord that was a line if ever I heard one but damn it all if it doesn't just make me want to throw myself into his arms.'

"Flatterer." I narrowed my eyes at him as I took another drink of my wine.

"It's not flattery when it's the truth. So… I'd ask you to dance but I think I know what the answer would be." His gaze on me made me uncomfortable and I looked away.

"If I were to dance with you, all of my mother's friends who are here would tell her and then I'd have to deal with her trying to shove her expectations of who she thinks I'm supposed to be down my throat again. Since I just got it through her head that she should just give up on me, I'd rather not give her new kindling for that particular fire."

Wistfully, I looked towards the dance floor. "It would be nice to dance though."

Bruce smiled and took my hand. "Follow me."

"What? No- Bruce, I can't go dancing with you out there, I just told you!" I began to attempt to pull my hand out of his grasp but it wasn't budging.

"We're not going out there." He turned and pushed a spot on the wall behind us. A portion of the wall swung inwards and he led me inside.

"Um, how did you know that was here?" I tried to keep the nervousness from my voice but I knew he could tell by the way his hand gave mine a gentle squeeze.

"I own this penthouse." He led me through a series of rooms: kitchen, living room, dining room, until finally we came to a balcony. Opening the door, he led me outside. The night was cool with only a slight breeze.

Going to the railing, I could hear the faint music of the orchestra playing around the building.

I turned around and leaned against the railing. "I thought you only had a room at the Le Grand."

"Oh I have several bolt holes around the city in case I need them." Bruce smiled as he saw my eyes roll at 'bolt holes'. Only a billionaire could see one of the most gorgeous penthouses in the city as a bolt hole.

"So, how about that dance?" His hand reached out, an offer that was very tempting but one that I hesitated to take.

I bit my lip and turned back to Gotham's sky line. "I don't know."

I felt him move up behind me on my left. "What don't you know?"

"I don't know what this is. I don't know if I can leave it at just a dance. You're the first person to really notice me, to really **see** me in the last decade and I don't know if I want to ruin that by wanting so much more than just a dance." I blushed and then flinched as his hand came to rest gently on my shoulder.

"Georgiana, you're the first person to really see **me** since Rachel died. Who has looked past the man and seen the beast and accepted that man and beast are and have always been- one. Trust me when I say, I understand your trepidation but that maybe it's time to take a leap of faith and see where it leads."

The quiet words startled me out of my own reverie and I turned to face him.

The openness and vulnerability etched onto his face made my heart ache. Having seen him over the past few months and seen his demeanor for what it had been- a mask, I understood how hard it must be for him to expose himself thus to me.

Realizing this, I let go of my reservations, twining my arms around him and kissing him with all that was in me, willing him to understand that I understood but was still scared.

As he responded, banding his arms around my waist and bringing me up face level with him, I felt my heart begin pounding, a fast staccato against Bruce's steady thrum.

I pulled back just enough to look him in the face.

"We're really going to do this? You, billionaire playboy who can have whoever he wants at his beck and call, and me, little miss nobody archivist extraordinaire who you ignored for all of high school? Really?" The incredulity in my voice was unable to be missed.

"Yeah, we are and I didn't ignore you. You intimidated me." Twinkling, his eyes smiled at me as my jaw hung open.

"Me? Intimidate you?! No way!" I stared at him gawking.

"Yup, you were smarter than me back then, probably still are. "

"Pssh, so says the boy genius who's multibillion dollar company wouldn't be where it is without him." I grinned back at him now, accepting the compliment for what it was.

"So," he said, stepping back and letting go of everything but my left hand.

"How about that dance?"


	7. Chapter 7

The weeks after the gala flew by as I settled into a new routine.

I still went to work every day with Josh and drove home with him at the end of the day, but now Bruce would sometimes be waiting for me at my apartment, if his meetings became too tedious or he just didn't want to attend them.

It was a nice adjustment to my schedule. I would make dinner as Bruce attempted to help but I'd eventually send him back into the living room with orders to amuse himself until I was done. Then we'd eat and laugh as I challenged him to different board games. We enjoyed the light competition of the board games.

The only true game I saw Bruce take seriously was chess. He would sit and analyze the board for what would seem like hours before finally moving his piece. It drove me to distraction but it also gave me pleasure when I realized that even with his intense concentration, I was still beating him half the time.

Bruce had tried to cajole me into letting him take me out but I refused. It would only be fodder for the tabloids and my mother. After realizing I wasn't going to budge, he relented and we began spending evenings between my apartment and the still under construction Wayne Manor.

The builders were making good progress on rebuilding and they had half of the mansion livable so Alfred had moved most of Bruce's things back there. At Alfred's insistence, Bruce sold all his "bolt holes" except his penthouse at Le Grand. Bruce grumbled about it but did it with minimal fuss as he could see the financial sense of only having a couple homes rather than two dozen.

We were relaxing on my roof one evening after a quick game of Scrabble just listening to the sounds of the city below us.

"I still don't think that 'AA' is a word." Bruce's grumble from my other Adirondack chair made me chuckle.

"We looked it up! Just accept that in the literary world, I know more than you." The grin that I threw his way had just enough sass to have him rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"True, I keep forgetting you have a Master's degree in the field."

beepbeepbeepbeepbeep

Pulling his pager from his belt, he sighed. "I've got to go. Duty calls."

"Batman? Or Bruce?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Batman. I have a feeling that it's this Riddler character again. He's been silent for the past few weeks and that doesn't usually bode well." He sighed and touched a button on the side of the pager and I heard the tumbler roar to life in the camouflage of my back alley.

He rose and headed for the stairs back into my apartment. I followed close behind.

He was throwing his duffle bag on the couch and beginning to unpack his mobile suit. I stepped up behind him and gave him a quick hug and kiss on the neck.

"Be careful alright?"

Bruce wrapped a hand around my arms encircling him and smiled. "I'll try to remind myself."

He said that every time when I asked him to be careful. It wasn't until the fourth or fifth time that he'd responded like that, that I'd asked him why he said that.

"_Because for a long time now I hadn't cared whether I lived or died when I'd go out. It's hard to break that mentality when it's almost become a part of me, but I'm trying."_

I untangled myself from him and let him move into the bathroom to suit up. For some reason, he was very self conscious about putting the suit on in front me. _Wasn't that way when it came to taking it off though…_

When he emerged, he had everything but his cowl on. Moving to the staircase to meet him, I tilted my head up to look at him as he began to ascend.

Stopping, he leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow Gia. Sleep well."

I smiled back at him. "Fight well and remember what I said."

A ghost of a smile touched his face before he pulled his cowl on and with a whirl of his cape he was gone.

I had just settled on my couch to catch up on my DVR'd episodes of Bones, when my phone rang.

"Hey Pen. What's up?" I paused the opening scene, not wanting to miss a thing.

"Hey Georgie, I was just wondering if you and Mr. Wonderful wanted to come out and join me and the girls tonight." Her high pitched giggle told me she'd been doing a bit of drinking already.

"Penny… You haven't been telling tales have you? You know that I asked you not to. "My exasperation was evident in my tone.

"Noooooo. But I did tell Trisha that you might come out with us if your new boy toy could spare you." Penny began wheedling. "Please come out with your one and only little sister who loves you so much and want to party it up with her only awesome big sister. Pleeeeeeease?"

I sighed and shut the TV off. "Fine. Where are we going?"

"Yippeee! Trisha! She's coming!" Penny shouted into the phone. "Um, can you meet us at the lobby of Le Grand? We can all go together then!"

I smiled and shook my head. Penny was my eternal weakness. As different as we were, it didn't take hardly any bribing to get me to do what she wanted.

"Alright. I'll be there in thirty." With that, I hung up to go change.

* * *

I waited in the lobby of Le Grand for Penny and Trisha to meet me. I saw the approving glances from the bell hops and front desk clerk and smiled inwardly to myself. I had dressed to stand out with tight black leggings and an open-at-the-sides, flowy dark red top with a tight fitting black tank underneath. My hair was swept off my neck and pinned to the back of my head so several tendrils escaped and hung haphazardly. I'd done my make up to match with smoky eyes, dark red lipstick and glittering onyx earrings dangling from my ears.

I was just about to call Penny to see where she was at when I heard the ding of an elevator and raucous female laughter. I knew without looking that it was Penny and her entourage.

An arm was flung around my shoulders as Trisha, Janice, Becky and Penny came up to me and I was tugged along to a waiting stretch limo standing at attention at the curb of the hotel. Letting myself be bustled inside, I took a seat and just let their conversation wash over me.

I snorted internally as the conversation flowed in and around me but never actually at me. Penny's eyes twinkled as she and the girls gossiped about who might or might not show up to the club we were going to. I let my mind wander as I thought about the dancing I would actually be able to indulge in since in such a packed club I would blend right into the crowd instead of standing out.

Something that Trisha said brought me snapping back out of my thoughts and back into the conversation.

"What did you just say?" I looked down the girls to Trisha who was seated in the back seat with Penny.

"I was just telling Janice not to do any hits of anything 'cept what we brought with us 'cos of the last time we were here. She totally tripped out." Trisha's voice was matter of fact and nonchalant.

Brows furrowing together, I looked down the line at Penny who simply shrugged and shook her head at me.

Suddenly my good mood was dampened as thoughts started racing through my mind. _What if Penny is going to do drugs with these girls? No, she couldn't or she wouldn't have asked me along. Maybe I'm her excuse to say no. Okay, that better be it because that's the only acceptable answer._

The car came to a stop and the driver opened the door for Trisha. As she exited, flashbulbs began going off and my stomach sank as I realized that paparazzi were waiting for the rest of us to exit so they could photograph us as well. I scooted down the long aisle seat and as Janice exited, I slipped out the opposite door and came around the front of the car.

Photographers were surrounding the immediate vicinity of the open car door and I suppressed a giggle as the driver looked into the car, wondering where the heck I'd gone. I slipped around the photographers and caught up to the others as they were gaining entrance to the club which was apparently called "Hypno".

Walking in, you could the club was aptly named. All the pictures were of optical illusions or circles with swirling lines. Mirrored walls and columns made for a fun house effect of people seeing people, seeing people. At the back of the club, above the DJ booth a large circle of black and white lines rotated slowly.

I saw Becky stop and stare at it for a minute before someone jostled her of the mild trance it had put her in. Growing concerned, I elbowed my way through the crowd to find that Penny, Trisha and Janice had taken up residence in an alcove with couches and pillows sumptuously heaped so that it made a boudoir effect. It wasn't lost on me that the booth was angled towards the DJ booth and the large rotating swirl of color.

I slid onto the couch next to Penny.

"Hey, didn't you say that when you were here last time, you felt like you _**had**_ to take a hit off of that joint that was being passed around?" I leaned in close to her ear so she could hear me over the din of people and music.

"Yeah! It was so weird, like I didn't want to but like I had to." She was looking at me concerned now.

"Well didn't you think it might have something to do with the potential hypnotizing pictures and whirly-gig up there?" I asked/yelled as I pointed towards the DJ booth.

"Well… No. They wouldn't hypnotize people here! That's like totally illegal, right?" Penny's blank look told me she had no clue what I was getting at.

I gave an internal sigh and motioned for a waitress to come and take our drink order. Her blank expression as she asked for our orders in a monotone voice had alarm bells going off in my head.

I pulled my phone out to text Bruce what was going on, just in case.

_ "Hey, just wanted to let you know in case something goes down, I'm at this new club, Hypno, with Penny and a bunch of her friends. "_

"**Hypno? Get your sister and get to the bathroom. Now."**

Confused, I looked at my phone and was typing a response when the first explosion sounded in the back of the building.

Most people didn't hear it over the loud bass and music playing but I could feel it shake the building. Remembering the explosions from when the Joker had exploded Gotham General, I grabbed Penny's hand and started shoving my way through the crowd.

"G! Where are we going!? Slow Down! You're hurting my hand!" Penny yelled at me as I pulled her along with an iron grip.

I made it to the front and scanned for the restroom signs. Spotting them in the far right corner, I barreled through several people and past a line of girls waiting into the room.

I shoved Penny in the large handicap stall that was in the farthest corner of the building and whipped my phone back out.

_ "We're here. What's going on? What do I need to do now?"_

** "Stay put. I'll get you out."**

I felt the next explosion as I read Bruce's text. This time people noticed and there was a sudden rumble in the floor as people stampeded towards the exit doors. The once crowded bathroom was empty in seconds and Penny and I were the only ones left.

Sliding down the wall, I sat next to Penny, gripping her hand tightly as I prayed for Bruce to be alright, for everyone to make it out of the club unscathed and for Penny and me to be alright.

"G-g-georgie?" Penny managed to squeak out and I turned to her.

Tears were running down her face and I realized my sister looked as terrified as I felt.

"Are w-we gonna die?" I grabbed her and hugged her hard.

"No, we are not," I said firmly. "We are going to be just fine. We are in the safest place we could be right now. Trust me, we'll all be alright."

I kissed her head and I looked towards the club where I could hear screams from frightened patrons as they scrambled to escape.

Two more explosions sounded, closer this time and the panicked screams increased in fever and pitch. _Too many people in too small a space_, I thought.

One more explosion sounded, even closer and I felt and saw the interior bathroom wall come flying towards us. I shoved Penny's head down and I covered her with my body as the debris flew over us and through the exterior wall onto the pavement.

Looking up, the ceiling above us began to sag precariously.

"Penny! We've got to go! Now!" I yanked on her hand to help her up and pull her towards the gaping hole in the wall that stood about waist high and was big enough to fit a large person through.

"What? I can't climb out that! I'm wearing a dress for crying out loud!" Some of my sister's normal vanity began to emerge and I felt a sense of relief that she wasn't completely scared out of her wits yet.

"Oh come on! This place could collapse at any moment! Now give me your foot, I'll give you a boost up." I grasped her right foot as she stepped and heaved her into the hole.

"Okay," she said, turning around to help me. "Now I'll help pull you up."

I had grasped her hand and was almost there when the ceiling gave way. Ceiling tiles, cement, rebar and other debris cascaded down and I lost my grip. I fell to the floor with a jarring thump and looked up just in time to see a large piece of cement fell on top of my legs. Screaming, my last thought was that this was not supposed to happen and then it all went black.

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you all for still reading even after my long hiatus! And yes, I leave you with a cliffhanger! Enjoy my lovelies!


	8. Chapter 8

**Bruce POV**

After leaving Gia's apartment, I drove down backstreets and alleys towards the address that Alfred had sent me. We'd been doing research to try and narrow down the Riddler's location for the past three weeks and this was the first sign of life we'd had.

Parking the tumbler in a back alley, I shot a grappling hook at the top of a nearby building. Once there, I settled myself down to wait.

The address that I was staking out was in the warehouse district and it looked abandoned but looks can be deceiving. Men, dressed and armed for a fight, patrolled the rooftop and nearby alleyways. Camera's trained on the doors moved at the slightest sound.

An hour passed and I saw a man in a well tailored green suit emerge from a side door and get into a waiting car. I turned up my volume to hear them better.

"Time for our party! You know how I do _love _to party!" a man's high pitched voice said with glee.

"Yes, sir. Driver- to Hypno," a gruff voice replied.

_Hmm… Hypno. _"Alfred, can you look into a place called Hypno for me?" I asked as I began my descent to the tumbler.

"**Yes, it's a new club that's opened in the downtown area. It's become one of the area's most popular nightclubs. Anything else, sir?"**

"Keep an eye on the police band. I think we may a problem there tonight."

"**Will do, sir."**

Sliding into my seat, the top of the tumbler snapped into place and I was off towards downtown.

As I arrived in the downtown area, it became clear that I wouldn't be able to take the car in close. Putting it on autopilot, I told it to drive to a location 2 miles away, far enough away to be hidden but close enough I could get to it fast if I needed to.

Traversing the rooftops, I made it to the back of the club as the man in the suit stepped out of the car. He and two of the men who had been in the car with him went inside, while two more remained to guard the back door.

Swinging down and into the first guard, I quickly disarmed his partner and knocked them both out. Satisfied they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, I entered the building.

The rooms and hallways were dark but using the sonar technology I'd developed a couple years ago, I could see my way around easily. Hearing voices, I moved closer to an open door.

Rows of computer monitors lined half of one wall, monitoring patrons of the club as they came and went. On the other half a diagram of the club was mounted on the wall with 6 slowly blinking red dots at various locations around the club.

Seven people were in the room. One man was watching the monitors closely; another had head phones on and was appearing to listen intently. The others were gathered around the diagram of the club with the man in the green at the forefront.

"But Boss, why don't we blow the ones at the front of the club first? I thought we wanted to kill people," one of the men asked.

"Be-cause…we want them to _think _they can escape all the while knowing that they won't." The high pitched voice belonged to the man in the green suit.

'_So that's the Riddler.' _

"They all have no idea that they were chosen weeks ago to die today! But they are obviously weak enough to need to die seeing as none of them broke my hypnosis," the Riddler, giggled with malicious glee.

"Uh, hey, Boss? We got a problem." The man with the head phones motioned him over to the computer screen in front of him.

The Riddler moved over, blocking the screen from my line of sight. "What's the problem?"

"Uh, this chick right here, she's never been here before and I think she knows something's up." The man gestured to the monitor. "She is paying too much attention to the servers and the hypno machine."

The Riddler chuckled. "Well even if she thinks something's up, she won't be able to stop what's coming."

As he moved away, I saw the woman on the screen, her face was turned away from me but there was something familiar about her.

Turning my attention to the rest of the room, I knew I couldn't let them blow up and kill civilians.

Pulling a tear gas canister out of my utility belt, I pulled the pin and rolled it into the room.

"What the-"Fits of coughing began as the canister erupted and spewed the noxious fumes into the room.

One by one the men began staggering out of the door right into my waiting arms to so speak. I quickly disarmed them and began rendering them unconscious with a quick knock the base of their skulls.

All the men had been accounted for except for the Riddler. The gas began to dissipate as I made my way into the room.

He was nowhere in sight. A voice came over the paging system above my head.

"So, Batty boy finally showed up. I was wondering when we were going to meet again since you rescued the Commissioner's brats."

"Come out and face me, you coward," I growled.

"Haha hoho, oh I think not. While I am infinitely smarter than you, I know I cannot possibly hope to match you with strength. Oh no, I just wanted to say goodbye and let you know how put out I am that we weren't able to continue this little game longer." His tone was almost apologetic and I knew he was going to blow the place up with me in it.

I began running towards the back entrance. Reaching it, I fired a grappling hook towards the sky and told Alfred to call the police anonymously and tell them that someone had just made a bomb threat at Hypno.

Reaching the roof safely, I pulled my burn phone out to call the burn phone I'd given Gordon when I saw a text from Georgiana.

"_Hey, just wanted to let you know in case something goes down, I'm at this new club, Hypno, with Penny and a bunch of her friends."_

My heart stopped for moment. Not again. It resumed at an agitated clip as I quickly thought back to the diagram of the club I'd seen. The bathroom facilities were located the furthest away from all the intended blast sites.

"**Hypno? Get your sister and get to the bathroom. Now."**

I ran along the rooftops as I heard and saw the first explosion take out the back room where the communications center had been until I was at the side of the building where the bathrooms were.

An agonizing minute later, my phone dinged again.

"_We're here. What's going on? What do I need to do now?"_

I took a deep breath and let it out. I would do this. I wouldn't fail her like I'd failed Rachel.

"**Stay put. I'll get you out."**

Seconds after I sent it, the next explosion rocked the main area near the rear of the building. I could hear screams of panic as the people inside rushed to the front doors.

I glided around to the front of the building only to discover that the Riddler's henchmen had padlocked them shut.

Pulling a small but powerful blowtorch from my belt, I went to the task of cutting through the chains so that as many people as possible could get out. I had succeeded on one door, opening it so frightened partygoers could escape, and turned to the other when the next two explosions ripped through the center of the club.

The next would be at the front, close to the doors if I remembered the diagram correctly. I hurried to finish and as I finished, the next blast erupted and threw me back with the force of it.

Dazed for a moment, I took in the damage.

Parts of the exterior walls were blown out in all directions and as I looked towards the bathrooms, I saw that part of theirs had been blown out as well.

_Gia._

I scrambled to my feet in time to see Penny climbing up into the gaping hole in the bathroom wall and turning back, reaching a hand into the crumbling building.

Seeing a hand start to emerge, my heart leapt but it froze as I heard the building groan and saw a massive pile of cement and debris fall into the decimated bathroom.

_No. I can't have failed again. No._

Hearing a blood-curdling scream, I lurched forward at a run towards Penny who was screaming and crying out for Gia.

"Georgie! Georgie! Can you hear me?! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! What am I going to do?!" Penny screamed as she attempted to climb back into the unstable building.

Grabbing her carefully from behind, I lifted her from the building as I growled at her, struggling to keep the emotion from my voice.

"You – are going to go wait with the other survivors across the street. I will get her out." My hands trembled as they rested on her waist and I quickly removed them and vaulted on the now swaying wall.

Penny nodded, tears still streaming down her face, and she began walking towards the group that had gathered.

Sirens were starting to sound from all corners of the city and I knew I didn't have much time to reach Gia before I'd have to go to avoid being pursued by the police force.

Stepping down carefully onto a bit a floor that didn't have large chunks of debris covering it, I began carefully and methodically removing pieces of cement and rebar away from the area Gia'd gone down in.

I found a hand first and my heart stopped as I ripped my glove off to check for a pulse at her wrist. There. Faint but still there.

"Hold on Gia, I'm coming. I've almost got you." I struggled to keep my voice in its characteristic growl as I removed a large piece of ceiling that had fallen on her top half and shielded her face.

Turning her head towards me, she groaned and opened her eyes, focusing on my looming figure before her.

She was very pale, bleeding profusely from a cut on her head.

"Bru-," she caught herself. "Batman, what the hell took you so long?"

The bite and sass in her words relaxed something inside me.

"I was delayed."

"Well next time, take an earlier flight, mmk?" Trying to sit up, she gasped in pain as she realized her legs were still pinned.

"Hold still." I grasped the large cement slab pinning her legs and lifted it just enough for her to pull her legs out from underneath.

"Can you wiggle your toes?"

She nodded, testing her joints experimentally. "I think I'm okay except for the knock on the head and some scrapes and bruises."

Looking at the slab I'd lifted up, her expression was unreadable. "That was close. If it hadn't gotten wedged between the wall and the other debris, my legs would've been crushed."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. I'd been so afraid that's what I'd find or worse.

Reaching a hand out to me, I helped her stand and test her legs.

Satisfied that she was all in one piece, I put an arm around her waist, readying a grappling hook.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Gia pulled away from me. "You can't be seen rescuing just one person from a building full of people hurt or trapped. You should know better than that. Here boost me up."

She went and stood next to the crumbling exterior wall, turning to me expectantly.

A low growl went through me.

"I need to be sure you're safe."

"Well you can come check on me after I arrive home, like my boyfriend would since he has no knowledge that I was involved and since he wasn't with me tonight."

Her pointed look and sharp tone reminded me that I was still in the suit and therefore, had to react as though she mattered just as much as everyone else.

Setting my jaw, I went over and gave her the boost she needed to get on top of the wall. It grated against my nerves to not do what I wanted, which was whisking her away from the scene and spend the next several hours checking her over to be absolutely sure she was alright.

With a grin and small smile, she hopped off the wall and out of my sight.

Hearing the rapidly approaching emergency sirens I fired my grappling hook at a nearby building and made my way back to the car.

"_Master Bruce, Miss Georgiana is alright I presume?"_ Alfred's voice rang in my ear.

"**It would appear that way, Alfred."**

"_I take you'll be staying at her apartment tonight then, sir?"_ My butler's tone was all too understanding.

"**It would appear that way."**

"_Well then remember how you always feel when I fuss over your scrapes and bruises, sir. Maybe give the young lady a one night reprieve." _Fatherly concern laced his tone and I knew that he was worried not only about Gia but also myself.

"**I'll see you in the morning, Alfred."**

Reaching the car, I turned my communicator off and headed for Gia's apartment.

I may not have been able to whisk her away as I'd planned but I sure as hell was going to follow through with the rest of my plan.

* * *

**A/N: I know! 2 chapter in a week? Crazy! But I already had this written out for the most part and I don't want to keep you all in suspense any more than I have to. Enjoy!**


	9. Chapter 9

Opening the door to my apartment, I tossed my keys on the tiny table that served as a catch-all for my hand held crap when I came home. Closing it, I went to the bathroom and began to draw a bath for myself. The thing I wanted most was a nice long soak in the tub and maybe, afterwards, a cuddle with Bruce.

After Bruce had left the club, I'd been check out by the emergency response personnel. They'd wanted me to go to the hospital for x-rays of my legs after I'd told them I'd been pinned but I demurred. I felt fine and if they started to ache, I'd make an appointment with my regular doctor. Penny had emerged completely unscathed and I knew it was thanks to Bruce's warning that we'd both made it out virtually unharmed.

Penny was worried about Janice and Trisha. The only one of the trio we'd been able to find after the explosions had stopped was Becky. She'd been able to make it to the very front when the last explosion happened. She had a concussion and a fractured arm. She was one of the lucky ones.

We'd heard the police talking, saying how they thought the death toll would be well over fifty at least if not higher. Penny and I had said a quick prayer for the two missing girls as police had ushered us out of the area. Penny had called one of Dad's drivers to come pick us up and they dropped me off first, before heading to my parent's house.

With the tub sufficiently full, I turned the tap off and put a folded towel on the back of the tub where my head could rest.

Stripping my ruined clothes off, I sank into steaming hot water with a sigh and a hiss as the water hit scrapes and cuts that I hadn't realized I had.

Leaning my head against the back rim of the tub, I realized I was slightly shaking as I tried to encourage my body and muscles to relax. All of a sudden, my throat began to tighten as tears welled up in my eyes and emotion threatened to overcome me.

A gasping sob burst forth from me before I began to cry uncontrollably for several minutes. Finally regaining control of myself, I wiped at my nose and eyes and realized that I felt much better than I had when I entered the bathroom.

Closing my eyes, I wondered why Bruce hadn't been there to yell or berate me when I got home. A part of me was hurt that he hadn't been waiting but another, more practical side understood that there could be a myriad of reasons why he wasn't there. Not the least of which was he might be dealing with the Riddler.

_God, I hope he's okay. Hopefully the police didn't chase him around the city again. Please let him be okay and not at the mercy of the Riddler. I hope…_

A loud thud woke me from a light doze and I started in the lukewarm water as I came to discern that I had fallen asleep in the tub.

I stepped out of the bath and wrapped a towel around myself. Hearing grunts and other frustrated sounds from my living room, I deduced that it was Bruce who had made the loud noise.

I pulled the plug on the tub drain, watching the water begin to swirl out of sight, and stepped out of the bathroom.

Bruce was in the middle of removing his Bat suit. He had his cowl off and the upper half of the suit peeled off like a wetsuit. He stopped and turned towards me as I emerged.

Suddenly self-conscious, I turned away from him and began to head towards my bedroom. I heard him move but I still started when he grasped my shoulder and turned me to face him.

My eyes were closed but I felt his hands move over my face, ghosting across the butterfly bandages on my forehead, down my neck and shoulders, sliding down my arms to settle on my waist.

"Gia." The softly spoken word had my eyes fluttering open to meet his. _"Gia."_

Oh, the passion in that one word!

We had danced around the sexual tension between us like glass would break if we were to take it any farther than kissing and caressing for weeks.

I hadn't wanted to make any missteps in this relationship. It had been years since I'd felt this strongly for anyone and I wasn't going to make the same mistake I'd made the last time. I had had some fierce arguments with myself over the logic of that choice when we lay in bed together, simply holding each other as we slept.

But now, looking into his eyes, I felt no hesitation whatsoever as I closed the gap between us and kissed him with all the emotion still reeling under my skin from the events of the day.

His arms came around me suddenly, intensely as his tongue delved into my mouth, plunging its depths and provoking a moan from my throat.

"Oh **Bruce**…"

His grip on me tightened and he lifted me up; my hands dove into his hair pulling him closer as our mouths melded in a frenzy of pent up passion and emotion.

I could feel the hesitation, the question in his touch, his gaze, as he pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes.

"Yes."

That was all he needed to hear. Grasping my thighs he lifted me up more and I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me into my bedroom with more speed than prudence.

In his rush to get to the bed, he hit my bench at the end of my bed and sent me reeling back onto the bed, towel flying off.

Looking up from his position, leaning over the bed, knees against the bench that had caught him off guard, he stopped, staring.

I felt my cheeks flaming as his eyes roamed over me, finally settling on my face. Swallowing, I scooted down the bed until I sat in front of him. He simply stood still as I slowly removed the rest of the Bat suit from his well-muscled, albeit bruised, figure. I had always watched him remove it with such ease before and now, like then, when I came to the black boxer briefs he wore underneath, my breath caught in my throat and my fingers stilled.

His hands came and took mine, fingers lacing, as he planted a kiss on each before pulling away and removing the last barrier between us.

Laying me back on the bed, Bruce covered me with his body and began kissing my neck, slowly working his way down. I couldn't help the breathy pants and slight whimpers that escaped as his journey progressed.

He was almost to the heat that had pooled in my center when a very insistent knocking sounded on my door.

"Georgiana?! Georgiana, you open this door right this instant! I know you're in there! Your doorman said you came up but haven't left! Open this door at once!" The high pitched, grating voice had my heart and libido sinking.

"Who's that?" Bruce's voice was a whisper, as he came up to look at me.

I groaned. "That's my mother…"

The knocking continued as I rolled away from Bruce and slipped into a pair of pajama pants and a hoodie that were on my floor.

"Can you-?" I gestured to the remains of his Bat suit that were still in my living room as I made my way out into the living room.

He nodded and grabbing the rest of the suit, headed back into my bedroom, shutting the door.

Steeling myself, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Mom! What are you doing here?" I tried to make it clear that I wanted to have the conversation at the door but she barreled right through me and into my home.

My mother's hair was slicked back into an elegant chignon and her wardrobe choice of an evening gown had me realizing she'd come from some party or gala.

Taking a seat in one of my arm chairs, she sat and gestured imperiously for me to do the same.

I sighed as I shut the door and went to sit opposite her on the couch.

"Georgiana. I know we haven't gotten along but still, that is no excuse for not calling and telling us about your mugging two months ago. Now this!?" She shook her head and her Harry Winston diamond teardrop earrings swung back and forth.

"You're here because I didn't call you two months ago?!" I couldn't keep my incredulity and anger from entering my voice.

"No, young lady. I am here because you were involved in an incident tonight and we need to decide how to handle it as a family." Her voice took on a steely quality that she only used when she tried to force me to do something she knew that I'd balk at.

"What incident!? I almost got blown to hell tonight and all you're worried about is how it will look if the papers print that your children were there?!" I could feel my blood pressure rising and I stood up and walked to the door.

"Georgiana, you may not understand the implications of such news becoming public but your father and I do. Your father invested quite a bit of money in that club and now we're trying to figure a way to distance ourselves from it and the explosion. The **last** thing we need is the papers printing that you were there with Penelope and making the connection." She looked every inch the Lady Victoria as she swept towards me.

I opened the door, set my jaw and fought back angry tears, as she came to stand in front of me.

"For the sake of your family, please do keep your head down until this blows over." She left with that parting request and made her way down to the waiting car to take her back home.

I shut the door and leaned my forehead against it. I could feel anger and sadness welling up in me and I lashed out, punching the wooden door with such force it dented and splintered the wood under my hand.

I heard the bedroom door open and I turned. Bruce stood in the doorway with an unreadable expression.

"Don't, " I said vehemently, as I made my way to the small cabinet that held my liquor.

I poured myself a generous shot of vodka and tossed it back.

Bruce made his way out of my doorway and went to stand in before the front door, studying it where I'd hit it.

Taking another shot, I turned around to face him, feeling sufficiently fuzzed to deal with whatever he chose to throw my way.

He had put his briefs back on and he still looked good enough to eat but anger was winning out over my libido.

"You have one hell of a right hook."

Whatever I'd been expecting, that wasn't on the list of possibilities that my mind had supplied.

He cracked a small smile as he came to me and took a shot of vodka himself.

"Thanks…" I eyed him cautiously. "Sorry about all that."

"I don't know why she even bothered coming by in the first place. I always keep my head down. It's what I'm good at." I shook my head and I took a seat on the couch I'd previously vacated in anger.

Another way of emotion cascaded over me. "She didn't even ask if I was alright! Ugh!" I lashed out again, this time punching a pillow that sat next to me.

"Hmm, violent when angry. Good to know." The amusement laced through Bruce's voice made me glance up from my brooding.

"You find this funny?"

"A bit. Gia, I don't need an explanation. I just want to make sure you're alright." With a gentle smile that reached his eyes, he sat next to me and took my right hand in his and examined it.

"I'm fine. She just knows how to push my buttons. No one else can do it like she can." I sniffed and flexed my fingers and realized that I was going to need to ice my hand.

As if he read my thought, Bruce got up and got a frozen bag of mixed vegetables out of my freezer.

"Here, put this on it. It'll feel better."

"Thanks. I feel like I should say that I don't normally react this way." I felt a bit ashamed that he'd seen a side of me that only Penny had seen before then.

"No, it's good to know that you've got some fight in you when push comes to shove." There was an undertone to his voice that had me paying closer attention to him.

"What exactly are you saying?"

"Nothing. It's just good to know. " His tone again said that there was more to it than that.

"Hmm… Sure…" Bruce looked over at the skepticism in my voice. There was a part of me that wanted to push him to explain what he meant but then again, he hadn't pressed me for a detailed explanation so I figured that it made us even.

I stood up and returned the now thawing bag of veggies to the freezer.

Wanting to forget about what had just happened, I tossed a sassy look over my shoulder at the still supremely sexy man watching me from the couch with intense interest.

"We going to pick up where we left off before we were so rudely interrupted?" I grinned as I stripped my hoodie off and threw it to the side.

The speed with which Bruce leapt off the couch and into my room would have been laughable had I not been just as eager as he to resume our rather heart racing bedroom activities.

I wondered if he'd use "the voice" in bed if I asked.

Ah, well. Time to find out.

* * *

**A/N: Coitus interruptus from the female parental unit! Oh no! Sexy time will have to wait until next time folks. Hope you enjoy! Reviews make me write faster and more often so any and all are appreciated!**


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